


Warm Weather Winter

by JennaFlare



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 08:29:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17158667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennaFlare/pseuds/JennaFlare
Summary: Melinda and Bob Washington send their kids and their kids’ sweethearts on an all-expense paid trip to California Wine Country. Beth is the only one unenthused about the weather.Written for holeybubushka on tumblr for the Until Dawn holiday exchange!





	Warm Weather Winter

“We have successfully landed here in lovely San Francisco, California. Local time is 12:36 P.M. and it’s a crisp fifty-seven degrees out.”

“Fifty-seven?” Beth repeated incredulously. To Beth’s left, Sam stretched in her seat, and Josh met his sister’s eyes across the aisle.

“A _crisp_ fifty-seven,” he said. Beth snickered. She arched her back, sore from sitting for the past two and a half hours. Her spine popped as the pilot asked them all to stay seated until the seatbelt light was turned off. The plane taxied smoothly to the terminal and as soon as it stopped moving, Matt was out of his seat and grabbing Hannah's bag from the overhead bin. Mike was up soon after, though he waited for the seatbelt sign to click off.

“How long is it to the ranch from here?” Mike asked as he wrestled Josh's bag out of the compartment.

“Depends on the traffic,” Josh said, taking his bag from Mike, “but probably like two hours.”

“Yay, even more sitting. My ass is already sore enough,” Mike mumbled. He got his bag down and cleared some space for Josh to stand. Beth recognized the look on Josh's face. That smirk could only mean one thing, and she was going to nip that in the bud before he got the chance.

“Whatever dirty thing you're about to say: don't. No one wants to hear it, okay?”

Josh rolled his eyes. “It wasn't _that_ dirty.”

Matt mouthed a silent “thank you” to Beth behind Josh's turned head. Hannah smiled and took his hand, placing a soft kiss on his knuckles.

“It’s okay; you can wow me with your ever-creative dirty talk once we're alone,” Mike said. Beth thought he was trying to sound beleaguered, but he missed by a mile and landed in utter fondness. It was pretty cute (and simultaneously gross) how fond her siblings’ boyfriends were of their partners.

Josh shifted forward a little, finally making enough room for Sam to stand and collect her and Beth's bags. Being in first class, they were able to get off of the plane almost as soon as the doors opened.

The San Francisco airport was a madhouse: people stalled and surged at seemingly random intervals, and reaching the baggage claim took the six-man group far too long to reach.

“How about the ladies stake out some seats and guard the bags as we get them from the conveyor?” Mike suggested.

“Seriously, Mike?” Sam asked with a withering look.

“Yeah, seriously?” Josh echoed. “I don't feel like carrying heavy bags.”

“They aren’t that heavy,” Matt said. “It's not like Em is with us.”

Mike shuddered at the mere mention of Emily in the context of luggage.

Sam rolled her eyes. “I think we can handle a couple of bags, despite our double X chromosomes.”

Beth put her hand on Sam’s arm and leaned in to loudly whisper, “Babe, I appreciate what you're saying, but if Mike and Matt are game to carry our shit, I say we let them.”

In the end, the three Washington siblings wound up sitting around as their dates schlepped the group’s bags from the conveyor. Sam refused to sit around and do nothing while Mike and Matt did all the work, but Josh was more than happy to wait with his sisters. They dicked around on their phones as the bags piled around them. Hannah, being a smidge more responsible than her siblings, pulled the Lyft app up on her phone to check how long it would take them to reach their hotel.

When all the bags were retrieved, the group made their way out of the airport and called their Lyft. The drive was long, but the group was lively. Their Lyft driver offered them his auxiliary cable, and Hannah and Josh bickered over whether or not they should listen to holiday music.

“It’s festive!” Hannah argued.

“It’s December 26th,” Josh countered. He put on Dessa and refused to hear her protests, instead loudly talking to Mike about the amenities the ranch provided.

After about two hours, their driver turned onto the secluded wooded road that led to their hotel. It was a beautiful drive. The grass was a vibrant green and leafless trees stretched their naked branches across the bright cloudless blue sky. Hannah pressed her forehead against the car’s window to gaze up into the boughs of the trees. Matt held her hand gently in his own. Josh was leaning against Mike’s side, his hand resting on Mike’s upper thigh. Mike’s arm was looped around Josh’s shoulders, and they smiled at each other as they chatted. Sam leaned into Beth to get a better view out the window, and Beth ignored the view to admire Sam’s profile as she smiled softly at the beauty outside.

“Can you guys believe how beautiful out it is?” Matt said. “It’s so warm! And there’s absolutely no clouds. That’s incredible.”

Everyone voiced their agreement except for Beth. The weather was fine, she guessed, but she didn’t see any reason to get too excited about it.

It took a few more minutes for them to reach the hotel lobby, and they were all taken by its beauty. It was a small, low building nestled amongst trees. The front was covered with banks of huge windows and wide stone steps led to the front door.

“You said it was a _ranch_ ,” Mike hissed at Josh. His eyes were big as he peered at the building through the car’s window.”

“I said it was _called_ ‘Calistoga Ranch.’ Did you… did you seriously think my parents put us up at a ranch?”

Mike shrugged. “Could’ve been, like, a nice ranch.” Josh rolled his eyes.

The car pulled to a stop near the front steps and their driver helped to unload their bags. The group thanked him, and he drove off in search of his next passengers. They all chattered excitedly as they climbed the steps into the lobby.

“Wow,” Sam breathed. She paused at one of the banks of windows to gaze out at the trees, and Beth came up behind her and wound her arms around Sam’s waist and rested her chin on Sam’s shoulder. The view was truly stunning, but how was Beth supposed to pay attention to nature or whatever when she was on vacation with her beautiful girlfriend?

Somewhere behind her, Josh and Hannah were talking, but Beth didn’t listen to a word. She buried her face in the crook of Sam’s neck and breathed her in. Sam turned and pressed a kiss to Beth’s forehead before turning her head back to the window and resting her head against Beth’s.

Hannah rolled her bag next to Beth and said, “I’m gonna get us checked in.” Beth nodded, and Hannah took Matt’s hand and walked with him to the concierge desk. Mike and Josh joined them at the windows, parking their bags by Hannah’s.

“This place is seriously insane,” Sam said, her eyes glued to the bright green of the trees outside. The massive windows along every wall provided stunning views of the surrounding moss-covered oaks and towering pines. The bright green of the world outside changed the light of the lobby, making it feel warm and inviting. “I mean, I looked at pictures online, but… wow. Just look at all this.” She swept her hand in the direction of the bank of windows.

Beth shrugged. “It’s nice, yeah. Just maybe it would’ve been nicer in Summer.”

“When it’s consistently in the hundreds? Yeah, no thanks,” Josh balked at the suggestion.

“It doesn’t get _that_ hot here.”

“Uh, yeah it does. We’re not far from San Francisco, but we’re pretty far inland now. It hits the hundreds all the time, I bet.”

Beth finally stood up straight, letting go of Sam to turn to her brother. “You bet? So you don’t know.”

Josh took his phone from his pocket. “Well we can find out right now."

“Is the weather all we have to talk about?” Mike interrupted.

“It’s how you know we’re adults: we engage in enthusiastic conversations about the weather,” Josh said.

Sam laughed. “More like enthusiastic bickering.” She brushed Beth’s hand playfully with her own.

“We weren’t bickering,” Josh said the moment that Beth said,

“He started it.”

Mike and Sam laughed as Josh and Beth began to bicker about whether or not they had been bickering. Luckily, Hannah and Matt returned from the concierge desk and the bickering ended as Hannah held up three keys.

“Okay, so dad booked us in a two bedroom lodge and a one bedroom lodge,” Hannah said.

“Dibs on the one bedroom,” Josh said as Beth opened her mouth to say the same.

“Too late,” Hannah said with an impish smile. She handed identical keys to Josh and Beth. “Matt and I are taking the one-bedroom.” Before either sibling could complain, she began to lead the way to the lodges as Matt told the bellboys where each suitcase was headed. They all followed after her, Josh and Beth looking like they had a lot to say on the matter of lodgings but keeping their mouths shut as Mike and Sam laughed at them.

As it turned out, Josh and Beth had absolutely no reason to be upset with Hannah over where they’d be staying. Any trace of annoyance vanished as soon as the road’s curve brought the lodge into view. Like all the other buildings on the property, it was wide and low, sitting perfectly in the landscape. The light, rich brown wood of which the building was made looked like honey in the sunlight, and the forest reflected back at them in the large windows.

The six of them stormed the house, practically running from room to room, oohing and awing and gasping at the amenities and luxury. The place was huge and made of beautiful indoor and outdoor living spaces. The outdoor living area was covered by a roof and lined with a low-profile safety fence that provided stunning views of the surrounding oaks. The place had a full kitchen, a hot tub, and an extremely private and beautiful outdoor shower.

Beth couldn’t deny the beauty of the place. To try and do so would be utterly preposterous. Yet, something about the situation just seemed so strange to her. She couldn’t put her finger on exactly what it was that was bugging her, but she was determined to enjoy herself.

“The concierge said that dad emailed them our itinerary and they have all of our transportation and everything taken care of,” Hannah said.

Mike and Sam were at the railing of the outdoor living space, smiling to themselves as they looked out at the trees.

“We’re going to be leaving the hotel?” Mike asked wistfully. “Josh said they have a _spa_.”

“Oh come on,” Matt said. “You don’t want to go drink expensive wine the Washingtons have paid for?”

“Okay, good point.”

The rest of their day was spent unpacking their luggage and exploring the property a little. They didn’t get to see much of it as the property was huge, but they went to see Hannah and Matt’s lodge (a beautiful space with a fireplace that extended through an exterior wall so it could be enjoyed both inside and outside) and mosied to the dining hall just in time for dinner.

The dining hall was another free standing building next to the small lake on the ranch’s property. Lanterns hung from the boughs above the walkway that led to the dining hall, and their amber light was soft in the early evening. Unsurprisingly, the food was plated like an art piece and tasted even better than it looked.

After dinner, they visited the property’s wine caves, the entrance of which shone like a beacon in the growing darkness. They had a few wines made from grapes grown on the resort’s property, but they also had quite a lot from nearby wineries. After the tasting, they all retired to their respective lodges.

In their bedroom, Sam and Beth changed into their pyjamas and chatted about the day.

“I don’t know anything about wine really, but gosh… that wine was amazing,” Sam said. “And it’s still so warm out! It’s dark out and it’s still warm enough that I could go out with just a light jacket and be totally fine.”

“Yeah, it’s super great,” Beth said.

“You don’t like the warm weather?”

Beth screwed up her face and pushed back the bedcovers. “It’s nice, I guess. It just would’ve been nice to… I dunno, it might have been nice to go somewhere snowy.”

Sam laughed. “We just _left_ somewhere snowy, babe.” She climbed into bed and kissed Beth’s cheek.

“It’s different when you’re on vacation. When we’re at home, in the city, snow is just this white hell substance that gets in your boots. Vacation snow is magical and fun. I want to throw snowballs at you flirtatiously.”

Sam took Beth’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “I promise we can have a snowball fight when we get home.”

Beth sighed sullenly. “Okay.”

The next morning, Beth woke slowly. She heard Sam’s voice, saying something about… a blender? Without opening her eyes, she reached for Sam across the bed. Sam’s hand found hers.

“Yes, great, thanks so much,” Sam said. Was she on the phone? Beth cracked an eye open as Sam set her phone on the nightstand. She was already showered and dressed. Beth could never understand how Sam could wake up so early, even when she was on vacation. Sam leaned over Beth and kissed her. Pulling back a little bit, she smiled and whispered, “Go back to sleep. I’ll get you up in a bit, okay? It’s still pretty early.”

Beth nodded groggily and curled back into the blankets. Sam laughed lightly and kissed Beth’s temple. Then, her weight left the bed and Beth drifted back to sleep.

An indeterminate amount of time later, Beth awoke again to Sam gently shaking her shoulder. “Babe,” Sam whispered. “I have a surprise for you.”

Eyes still closed, Beth asked in a sleep-slurred voice, “Is it sexy lingerie?”

“That’s for later.” Beth hmmed appreciatively. “Come on, open your eyes.”

Beth cracked an eye open to see Sam holding a large plastic container.

“What’s that?” Beth asked. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and tried to peer into the container.

“Well, last night you were talking about missing snow, and I can’t exactly change the weather here, but, well…” Sam placed the container on Beth’s lap. It was filled with what appeared to be crushed ice. “This was the best I could do.”

Beth bit her lip and smiled. “Sam… This is so…” Her smile brightened even more and she reached for Sam. Sam came to her easily, Beth’s arms snaking around Sam’s waist. “Come down here."

Sam leaned down, and Beth brought up a hand to cup the back of her head. They pressed their foreheads together and grinned at each other.

“You’re really the best,” Beth said.

Sam’s cheeks were the tiniest bit flushed. “It’s just ice I put in a blender.”

“The best,” Beth repeated. She turned her head a little and kissed Sam.

Together, they made tiny snowmen and had a mini snowball fight in their bedroom. They played with the box of ice until it was too melted to do anything with. They were late to breakfast, but they couldn’t find it in themselves to care.


End file.
